Category Archives: Murder

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As we are all painfully aware people will commit heinous crimes for no reason ala Steve Stephens. But as we have also come to know, people commit murder for the most inane reasons as well. This brings us to one Teresa Drum.

Teresa Drum was making a casserole dinner in late February, which evidentially wound up on the burnt side which in turn, drew the ire of her husband, Dennis Drum. Some heated words were exchanged about the dinner debacle, and in the end Mr. Drum ended up with a bullet wound in his forehead which lead to his untimely death.

Now, by her own admission Mrs. Drum had consumed seven beers during and around the time she made the dinner. And quite certainly, casseroles can burn, when cooks become innebriated. Another bi-product of consuming that much alcohol, is that people can get murdered, especially when guns get pulled.

Mrs. Drum attempted to say the husband took his own life In his ‘casserole rage’. Mr. Drum was found at the scene by police with a gun in his hand. But typically people don’t shoot themselves in the forehead during these episodes. She also sent a friend a picture of her deceased husband via text asking “What she should do?”. That picture she sent eleven minutes before the police arrived , unfortunately for her, showed no gun in his possession. She even proceeded to take a shower to clean herself before even calling police.

During the commission of dinner and the crime, two of the couple’s children were in the house, though they were not hurt.

Most of us have a fear of death and the unknown, when it’s our time to go we would like the comfort of our loved ones around us. Troymaine Johnson had no such comfort as he died…alone…in the woods in the outskirts of Atlanta. He essentially froze to death, around the 14th of March, reportedly some of the coldest days of the year. He was unable to warm himself or call for help, as he was paraplegic who was unable to use his legs and had only partial use of his arms.

How did he get there? Well, much remains unknown, but charged with murder is one Ruby Kate Koursey. She is the ex-girlfirend of Johnson who picked him up in her automobile under the pretext of going to the store. Instead, Koursey drove him to a campground, pushed him out of the car, and left him to die in sub-freezing temperatures.

The motive for this act of depravity is unclear and will likely come out in the trial . However, I want readers to contemplate how unusually cruel this act is. He was trapped in his body, and could not call for help. He died alone. The physical suffering by itself is hard to bear, but the mental one, makes it even more abhorrent.

What kind of argument can one have with their significant other that would cause a an to douse his wife with gasoline, set her a flame, and watch her burn to death? One would now have to ask one, Antonio Bargallo, of Schenectady, New York. He did this exact thing to th mother of his children, Elizabeth Gonzales.

There is a certain amount of barbarism that has to take place to burn another person to death, yet I don’t think these incidents are as uncommon as we would want to believe. I think this method of killing someone is a way to inflict maximum damage on someone, and the rationales are absolutely personal in nature.

Men, have big egos, and when those egos are wounded, some guys just lose it. They can’t take rejection or a criticism at all as it stains there machismo. It’s the ultimate offense to some. Perhaps I am reading something more into this than I should. Shit, perhaps this gruesome murder was over the time dinner was served. Murders have been the result of more inane things.

Oh! Where is the romance in it all? Where is the chivalry? Gone are the times when men would hold open the door for their dates, now we are in an era where men bludgeon their male companions to death, and then attempt to eat their penis in the aftermath. Yes…WAIT….WHAT?

Nope you read it right, 32 year old Jerry Pagan, killed 68 year old Richard Reed by using a few household items. He first bludgeoned him with a hammer. He then proceeded to stab him with a set of scissors. And finally, he decided to take a razor blade and mutilate the body of Richard Reed, by slicing off his penis.

When police came into Reed’s apartment, they found Pagan, with Reed’s body in the bathtub, and his penis laying on the floor.

When he was confronted by the police about the severed penis on the bathroom floor, he suggested that he was saving the appendage for a snack

The holidays are supposed to bring the best out of us but more often than not, troubled people often snap around the festivities.

Craig Allen Vandewege is one such person who “broke” in this way. He leveled brutality on his wife and children, that can only be described as sick.

The 35 year old Vandewege is currently being held in Colorado facing a Capitol Murder charge in Fort Worth, Texas. It is there that he is suspected of murdering his wife Shanna, and their son Diederik. Apparently leaving them next to each other in bed, with their throats slit. Diederik was only three months old.

Victims: Shanna and Diederik Vandewege

According to local ABC news, a co-worker of Vandewege, alleged that Craig was hearing voices urging him to kill someone. He also heard the suspect talk about “pushing” his then pregnant wife “down the stairs”.

Once again, I am left wondering, why this person did not report these discussions to police or a manager of some sort? Could someone have intervened and perhaps saved a life? We will never know the answer but, I find that indifference to such comments, lends itself to the crime.

To add to the touch of crazy that is Craig Vandewege, he was found to have his wedding ring in his pocket along with an assortment of condoms along with stating to homicide detectives that “he was headed to Las Vegas to see Donald Trump to work it out with him.”

Along with the condoms, after his arrest in Colorado, detectives later discovered an AR-15, .22 Caliber revolver, boxes of ammunition, and camouflage clothing.

I am not legal counsel but it seems to be that Vandewege was caught trying to sow his wild oats and setting up the crazy defense.

Thanksgiving is the one time of the year where we take account and are appreciative for whatever blessings, no matter how meager, we have accrued through the year. Well, someone should have told that to Joel Michael Guy, who raged about what he did not have.

You see, Joel, was in a pinch. He was a 28 year old resident of Baton Rouge, Lousiana. He had just recently taken a “sabatical” from his studies at Lousiana State University where he had been pursuing a degree for (ahem) NINE YEARS! Somehow, word got around to Joel that his parents, Lisa and Joel Michael Guy Sr. (the people that raised him presumably) were cutting him off financially. Now I don’t know the ins-and-outs of the financial consideration, but when left to our imaginations, I think we can put 2 and 2 together.

Victims: Lisa and Joel Michael Guy Sr.

So when this past Thanksgiving occured Joel met with his parents at their home along with his sisters. Everything seemed right and reasonable at the time the sisters left. What occured after they left was anything but. Sometime between late-Friday and mid-Saturday, Joel attacked his parents, and killed them. But not only did he kill them, he expressed a certain savagery that is inhuman. He stabbed them to death. He then decapitated them. Lastly, he then attempted to dissolve their bodies in an acid bath.

Who knows what the tipping point was for Joel? Was he cold and calculating? Or was he incensed in the moment? Regardless, I hope the measure of his brutality is met with compensatory jusitce. My prayers to the family.

I am not one to dispute the existence of Angels and Demons, but when I see stories such as this, I am compelled to believe these crimes are a melding of religious doctrination and mental illness.

Juanita Gomez, was so convinced that her adult daughter, Geneva Gomez, was possessed by the devil, that she proceeded to stuff a crucifix down her throat. Thusly, killing her daughter.

Apparently a fight ensued where the older Gomez beat the younger (33 years of age) into submission and forced the crucifix down her throat. The mother watched her dauggter die and then posed the body in the sign of the cross.

This is not an isolated incident as a couple of years a family attempted an exorcism…in their van…In a Walmart parking lot (because where else would you hold an exorcisn?)

My thoughts and prayers (because praying is a more amiable spiritual committment to another human being) are with the family.